Identity theft may be listed as new crime

China's top legislature is studying whether to make identity theft a crime, after two recent high-profile cases related to university admissions, a senior legislator said on Friday.

"Identity theft for college enrollment is like stealing other people's futures," said Zang Tiewei, spokesperson for the National People's Congress Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission.

"It not only causes great damage to them and their lives, but also seriously harms educational equity and challenges social justice."

Zang said at a news conference that the commission is also considering harsher punishments for identity theft by revising existing laws. This would help create a fairer environment for exams and college enrollment, he said.

The issue was pushed into the national spotlight in June, after two cases were exposed in Liaocheng, Shandong province, involving students who sat the gaokao college entrance exam.

One case happened in 1996 and the other in 2004. At the time the incidents happened, the two victims did not know their identities had been stolen and both lost the opportunity to obtain a higher education.

Dozens of people were held accountable in the two cases and investigations are continuing. Provincial authorities are also investigating similar cases that may have occurred from 1999 to 2006.

Zang said they will better fight crimes such as abuse of power, malpractice, bribery and falsifying official documents.

Revision of the Criminal Law will be discussed after suggestions from legislators and the NPC Standing Committee members are heard and collected.

In June, a draft revision of the law was submitted to the top legislature for its first review. At that time, many lawmakers called for harsher penalties for identity theft, saying that behavior that goes against the Constitution should be cracked down on through the creation of a new criminal offense under the law.